وَانطَلَقَ الْمَلَاُ مِنْهُمْ
"Has he made the gods into One God Verily, this is a curious thing!"
And the leaders among them went about,
meaning the chiefs and masters and nobles,
أَنِ امْشُوا
(saying);"Go on..."
meaning, `persist in your religion,'
وَاصْبِرُوا عَلَى الِهَتِكُمْ
and remain constant to your gods!
meaning, `do not respond to Muhammad's call to Tawhid.'
إِنَّ هَذَا لَشَيْءٌ يُرَادُ
Verily, this is a thing designed!
Ibn Jarir said,
"The Tawhid to which Muhammad is calling you is something by which he wishes to gain power over you, and exalt his own position, so that he will have followers among you, but we will not respond to him."
The Reason for the Revelation of These Ayat
Abu Jafar bin Jarir recorded that Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said,
"When Abu Talib fell sick, some of the people of the Quraysh, including Abu Jahl, entered upon him and said,
`Your brother's son is insulting our gods; he does such and such and says such and such. Why don't you send for him and tell him not to do that?'
So he sent for the Prophet and he entered the house. There was space enough for one man to sit between them and Abu Talib, and Abu Jahl, may Allah curse him, was afraid that if (the Prophet) were to sit beside Abu Talib he would be more lenient with him, so he jumped up and sat in that spot, and the Messenger of Allah could find nowhere to sit near his uncle, so he sat by the door. Abu Talib said to him,
`O son of my brother, why are your people complaining about you and claiming that you insult their gods and say such and such?'
They made so many complaints against him. Thereupon, he said,
يَا عَمِّ إِنِّي أُرِيدُهُمْ عَلَى كَلِمَةٍ وَاحِدَةٍ يَقُولُونَهَا تَدِينُ لَهُمْ بِهَا الْعَرَبُ وَتُوَدِّي إِلَيْهِمْ بِهَا الْعَجَمُ الْجِزْيَة
O uncle, all I want from them is one word which, if they say it, the Arabs will become their followers and the non-Arabs will pay Jizyah to them.
They were worried about what he said, so they said,
`One word Yes, by your father, (we will say) ten words! What is it?'
Abu Talib said, `What word is it?, O son of my brother'
He said,
لَاا إِلَهَ إِلاَّ الله
La ilaha illallah.
They stood up in agitation, brushing down their clothes, saying,
أَجَعَلَ الاْلِهَةَ إِلَهًا وَاحِدًا إِنَّ هَذَا لَشَيْءٌ عُجَابٌ
Has he made the gods into One God. Verily, this is a curious thing! Then this passage was revealed, from this Ayah to the Ayah;...
بَلْ لَمَّا يَذُوقُوا عَذَابِ
(...Nay, but they have not tasted (My) torment!)"
This is the wording of Abu Kurayb.
Something similar was also recorded by Imam Ahmad and An-Nasa'i, and At-Tirmidhi said, "Hasan.